The umbrella is a convenient and ubiquitous article of rain gear. When used in conjunction with a raincoat, it is preferable to hoods or hats in that it provides a relatively broad area of protection without disturbing the user's hair. For light rains, an umbrella alone may provide sufficient protection, obviating the need for a bulky raincoat.
With the advent of foldable umbrellas, those with telescoping handles so as to collapse into a folded state, the umbrella has become the rain gear of choice for commuters. The small size of the foldable umbrella is valuable for commuters who face unpredictable weather for short periods in connecting between otherwise protected modes of transportation. The folded umbrella is convenient to carry and may often be stored in a briefcase or purse.
Despite their obvious advantages, umbrellas have always presented a problem when wet. The preferable method of dealing with wet umbrellas, if space allows, is to place them open in a protected area until they dry. Where space constraints or large numbers of umbrellas prevent such an approach, umbrellas may be put in an umbrella stand, point down, to drain and dry.
Neither option is generally available to users of folding umbrellas, the very existence of such umbrellas contemplating continued portability when wet, either to be placed within a car or on a bus or train after folding. Opening an umbrella to dry, or the use of an umbrella stand, in a car, bus or train is clearly impractical.
Generally, all umbrellas, folding or otherwise, come with a sleeve of a water repellent material similar to that used in the umbrella itself. Such sleeves are intended to protect the umbrella from abrasion and dirt and serve only imperfectly for use in storing a wet umbrella. Frequently, a wet umbrella stored in such a sleeve will remain wet and will drop water on the user when the umbrella is removed and reopened. Worse, the sleeve may allow water to saturate the water resistant fabric of the umbrella in a way that allows water to pass through its surface the next time it is used. Nor are such sleeves entirely successful in preventing the water from the umbrella from leaking outward to dampen articles or clothing adjacent o the thus enclosed umbrella.